Process for the separation of combined minerals.



To all whom itmay concern:

' UNITE l i i It ALEXANDER S. RAMAGE, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO CHEMICAL IDE- VELOPMENT 60., OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF COLORADO.

PROCESS FOR THE SEPARATION OF COMBINED MINERALS.

949,002. No Drawing.

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER S. RAM- AGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes for the Separation of Combined Minerals, of

which thefollowing is a specification.

This process has for itsobject the separation of the valuable minerals from such ores as chalcopyrite, CuFeS 'bornite or erubescite, Cu FeS and mixtures of the same with pyrites, in which ores the copper "is in chemical combination with the iron and also from such ores, containing zinc blende. The method is also applicable to compound ores such as those of the cobalt district and other sulfarsenids.

The principle on which the process is founded is the combination of fractionalroasting With chemical floating.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, I will describe the same with reference to specific examples. Thus, in the case of an ore containing lron pyrites and chalcopyrite, with a. content of about five per cent. of copper and from'thirty to forty per cent. of sulfur, the ore is roasted at about a red heat in a furnace capable of utilizing the exothermic reaction between the in redients of the ore.

.he roasting is conductedat.a temperature suflicient to decompose only the iron sulfid, and'leave the copper in the form of copper sulfid. The burnt ore is then crushed to at least fifteen mesh and passed through a solution of acid sulfate of soda and free nitric acid, (the solution being formed by adding nitric acid to sulfate'of soda), which solution is kept near the boiling point. The copper sulfid immediately rises to the top of the bath and can be floated off. Any copper oxid which may have been formed in the roasting operation, at once dissolves and can be recovered from the solution by any of the well known ways.

Where the ore contains, besides iron pyrites and chalcopyrite, zinc blende in quantity, the ore is roasted at a temperature of not over 600 (1, with the result that the iron sulfid only is decomposed. The roasted ore is then subjected to the acid sulfate of soda solution in the manner before described,

thesolution being kept at nearly the boiling" Patented Feb. is, rare.

and copper rise to the top of the bath andare floated ofl, thus being together separated from the ironoxid. The copper and zinc sulfids are then roasted at about 700 0., until all the zinc sulfid is decomposed, the burnt mixture, after cooling, being treated with dilute sulfuric acid, whereby the zinc is completely dissolved, and the copper sulfid is left unchanged. The zi-nc may then be recovered from the solution by electrolysis in any preferred manner.

The copper sulfids obtained by either of the processes above referred to may then be treated in any of the well known ways to obtain metallic copper.

In the case of the ores of the cobalt district, Dominion of Canada, which are principally cobaltite, nicolite, and mixtures of chalcopyrite and pyrites containing silver in the metallic state and also as sulfid and sulfarsenid, these minerals are floated from the gangue, the metallic silver remaining with it and from which it is mechanical-ly separated. The sulfids and sulfarsen- .ids of cobalt, nickel, iron and copper are reduced together as an alloy, electrolytically.

I claim:

1. The process of treating mixed sulfid ores, which consists in roasting the mixture at a temperature suflicient to decompose one of the sulfids only, and then subjecting the burnt mixture to chemical flotation, thereby removing the remaining sulfid.

2. Theprocess oftreating mixed sulfid ores, which consists in roasting the mixture at a temperature suflicient to decompose one of the sulfids only, and then subjecting the burnt mixture to a solution of acid sulfate of soda and nitric acid, thereby. removing the remaining sulfid.

3. The process of treating mixed. sulfid ores containing copper and iron, which consists in roasting the mixture at a temperasolution of acid sulfate of soda and nitric acid, and floating ofi the copper sulfid.

5. The process of treating mixed sulfid ores 'contaming sulfids of copper, iron and zinc, which consists in roasting the mixture at a temperature suflicient to decompose the iron sulfid, then subjecting the burnt mixture to chemical flotation, thereby removing the zinc and copper sulfids, roasting the mixed zinc and cop er sulfids to decompose 10 the zinc sulfid onl and then dissolving and recovering the zinc. In testimony whereof, I aflix my signa ture in presence of twowitnesses.

ALEXANDER S. RAMAGE.

Witnesses:

J. H. BRICKEL'STEIN, C. W. FOWLER. 

